SANFORD — Sam might have had a hard time getting his stubborn friend to like those green eggs and ham, but it surely would have been a cinch to get him to like the new videoconferencing technology that was on display at Carl J. Lamb Elementary School on Dr. Seuss's birthday last week.

The first-graders in Valerie Sullivan's class gathered in the school's library on Tuesday, March 2, and saw something interesting on a new and large widescreen monitor there — two classes of their counterparts at Emerson School across town were looking back at them.

Welcome to the world of videoconferencing.

Last summer, the schools in Sanford's district received Tandbergs, which are videoconferencing devices that Technology Director Joan Wright secured through a Rural Utilities Resources grant.

Last week, Carl J. Lamb Elementary School gave the new technology its first spin with students. Sullivan's students "met" with the first-graders in Sarah Deschambault's and Pat Brunner's classes at Emerson School and listened to sixth-graders read a couple of Dr. Seuss's classics.

One of them was "The Cat in the Hat," of course. "The Foot Book" was the other.

The students — sporting their own Cat-in-the-Hat hats and bow-ties — also recited Dr. Seuss's pledge to read every day.

Kasey Bruno and Kelcie Hasty were two of the sixth-graders who rhymed their way through the two famous stories. Each took turns reading a few pages — and holding them up to the monitor for the kids at Emerson to see — and holding a microphone so everyone on either side of the screen could hear.

There were a few sound glitches that morning, according to Karen Miliano, the library and media specialist at the Lamb school. But that's to be expected — Miliano and others throughout the district are still trying to get the hang of the new technology.

"We're just starting to explore uses for it," Miliano said.

On the whole, though, the students were treated to a new visual leap in how they will interact with each other in the years ahead — on the monitors they saw each other's crisp and clear faces and caught one another's movements in virtual real time.

It's all a far cry from years ago, when students in certain grades may not have gotten the chance to meet or interact with their counterparts at other elementary schools throughout town.

Miliano said that hours after last week's Dr. Seuss celebration, another class at the Lamb school participated in a videoconference out of Kentucky with 14 other schools from across the nation. "Virtual field trips" might not be that far behind.

"We're just beginning to scratch the surface of what this can do," Miliano said.

One of Sullivan's students, Hailey Mariano, 7, said she spotted Madeline, her friend from Emerson, among the crowd of first-graders on the monitor.

"It was great to see her on TV," Mariano said.

Another of Sullivan's students, Jake Barszcz, 7, liked the new technology just fine but considered the event's real purpose to be his favorite part.

"I liked it when the big-graders read to us," he said.